Drug War

Time to Rethink the War on Drugs

by David Boaz October 1, 1999

Eighty-four percent of Americans say that possible cocaine use in his 20s should not disqualify Texas governor George W. Bush from being president. But if a cocaine user can go on to be president, why should we put young people in jail for using cocaine? Maybe the voters' indifference to Bush's possible past indicates that ...

Time to Curb SWAT Rampages

by James Bovard September 1, 1999

SWAT teams are finally getting some overdue bad press. Usually the SWATers are starring in some TV pseudo-docudrama where they go smashing into someone's home and discover him with a dumb look and a bong. However, people are now beginning to ask questions about the wisdom of the routine use of massive police force. Prof. ...

Drugs and George W. Bush

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1999

Oh, I was like that when a lad! A shocking young scamp of a rover, I behaved like a regular cad; But that sort of thing is all over. I'm now a respectable chap And shine with a virtue resplendent And, therefore, I haven't a scrap Of sympathy with the defendant! Those words were penned mor than a century ago by the great satirist W.S. ...

It’s Time to End the War on Drugs

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1999

Hardly a week goes by without some mention in the media of the war on drugs. Record drug busts, money-laundering schemes, increasing drug abuse, gang warfare, thefts and robberies, political corruption, infringements on bank privacy, searches and seizures, confiscation of assets, arrests, convictions, and incarcerations. If the overall situation - both with drug usage ...

Should the State Punish Drug Offenders?

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1999

Republican presidential contender George W. Bush's refusal to deny cocaine use raises some fundamental, moral questions: Why should the state be punishing adults for drug offenses? Why shouldn't people be free to engage in self-destructive behavior as long as their conduct is peaceful? Why should anyone be put in jail, fined, or have his ...

Booze Busting: The New Prohibition

by James Bovard December 1, 1998

Sixty-odd years after the repeal of Prohibition, a new anti-alcohol fervor is sweeping the nation. The anti-alcohol mentality is leading to absurd practices: An elementary school in Brandon, Vermont, forced sixth-graders to undergo breath tests to see whether any of them had been consuming alcohol. As lawyer Richard Berman recently noted, "Last Christmas in Georgia, 13-year-old honor student Cosmo Zinkow was ...

Policy Overdose

by Sheldon Richman February 12, 1998

From 1990 to 1996 heroin use among high-school seniors was up one hundred percent. Imagine how bad things would be if the war on drugs weren't succeeding! A report published in the journal Pediatrics attributes the increase to the falling price and higher purity of heroin, and to the belief that snorting or smoking heroin ...

The Bipartisan Drug Warp

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 1998

President Clinton promised recently to cut drug use by 50 percent over the next 10 years with the more than $17 billion--nearly a 7 percent increase--he's asked from Congress. Predictably, Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the effort isn't enough. Those who hate partisan bickering might take comfort that each ...

The Drug War vs. Public Health and Safety

by James Bovard June 1, 1997

Many Americans recognize that the drug war has jailed hundreds of thousands of people whose sole crime was to possess substances that politicians did not approve of. However, this is only the start of the casualty list of the drug war. Many other Americans have suffered who themselves had little or nothing to do with narcotics. Foolish drug regulations are ...

Destroying Families for the Glory of the Drug War, Part 2

by James Bovard March 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 In Clyo, Georgia, 11-year-old Tony Johnson met police Sergeant Sam O'Dwyer during Tony's DARE training. After completing his training, Tony met with O'Dwyer three times and eventually informed the cop of a few marijuana plants on a corner of his parents' land near their trailer home. O'Dwyer busted Tony's mother on April 9, 1992. ...

Destroying Families for the Glory of the Drug War, Part 1

by James Bovard February 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 Few programs better symbolize the arrogance, propaganda, and political opportunism of the drug war than the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. DARE is the most popular antidrug education program in America. Labeled by the Chicago Tribune as "a darling of America's drug war," DARE is currently being taught by police officers to ...

The Relegalization of Drugs, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 I am often asked what distinguishes libertarians from nonlibertarians. I sometimes respond with a political or economic answer. But I've concluded that the best answer is a psychological one: Libertarians, unlike others, have a fierce commitment to reality, which is a commitment to truth. We have broken free of the ...